NATIVES GUIDE
BRIAN CHILSON
FENCING
Sports leagues
A
re you out of shape? Do you find yourself with some spare time throughout the week, thinking, “I should be doing something other than sitting in front of the TV watching the third hour of this ‘Jersey Shore’ marathon?” Do you simultaneously want to get in shape, but hate all of the things you would have to do to realize that desire? Well, Little Rock has a lot to offer runners, walkers and cyclists – not to mention plenty of gyms – but there are some more, shall we say, unconventional sports out there too. And they’re just waiting for you to come along and sign up. KICKBALL. His name is Larry Betz, but you can just call him Poo. As in “the grand poo-bah of all things kick ball,” he says. Betz started the league in 2004, nearly on a whim. Now, there are more than 100 kickball teams in 52 JUNE 1, 2011 • ARKANSAS TIMES
Central Arkansas. “The biggest component is the social aspect,” he says. “It’s a great way to get out and meet people and be active and introduce yourself to a whole new social circle.” There are fall and spring leagues. The fall league usually runs from mid-August until the end of October. The spring season goes from the first of March until around Memorial Day. Fall registration is gearing up soon. If you’re interested in starting a team, it only takes nine players but you can have as many as 20. If you just want to sign up solo, your name will go on a list and one of the team captains will pick you up. “We do community service and fund-raising every season,” Betz says. “Through our nonprofit, the Big Red Ball Charitable Foundation, we raised over $300,000 for charity. Animals and kids are what we focus on.”
For more information, check out www.lrkickball.com. ROLLER DERBY. “We will teach people how to skate if they can’t skate,” says Amanda Homan, a blocker for the Rockin’ Renegades, Little Rock’s own roller derby team. “Experience is great, but it’s not necessary. One of our best blockers could not skate when she first started.” Homan is also the secretary for the Central Arkansas Roller Derby league, which has been around since 2006. The league consists of one team with “varsity” and “junior varsity” versions, but Homan would like to see that grow. The Renegades practice together and travel around the South playing other squads from Dallas, Huntsville, Jackson and Joplin, to name a few. “The biggest stereotype we’re trying to break is that it’s fake,” Homan says. “It’s not. It’s really real and it’s
empowering for women. We still have the campy nicknames. I go by Kitty Kismet. We’ve got Cocoa Booty and Mary Lou Wreckin’. But nothing is fake.” The team meets for practices and bouts at Skate World off Mabelvale Cutoff in Little Rock. For more information, send an e-mail to recruits@ cearderby.com. You can also find the league on Facebook. Just search for Central Arkansas Roller Derby. BIKE POLO. Have you ever seen video of an old-school polo match and thought, “That would be really fun to do on a bike instead of a horse”? Well, a group of Little Rockers is giving it their best shot. The bike polo squad meets at MacArthur Park Monday and Wednesday nights at 7 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. Nathan Vandiver has been playing with the bike polo team since it